Sweet Child O' Mine
by StarKatt427
Summary: So, how will Edward react to the new addition in his family? Will he be calm...or will he freak out? And is he actually excited about a baby, or is he just humoring Winry? - Brotherhood/manga based.
1. Sweet Child O' Mine

**Disclaimer: I don't own the world of FullMetal Alchemist: Hiromu Arakawa is the creator. **

**A/N: I really had fun with this one, 'cause I love seeing Ed all cutesy and sweet. I think this one has been my easiest one to edit so far, and I'm pretty proud of it. I don't own the characters or the universe of FMA, or the certain little person Edward is talking to... All credit goes to Hiromu Arakawa. AND, this is based on the Brotherhood/manga storyline, so don't get it confused with my first two stories, which take place in the original anime series universe.**

**StarKatt427**

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Edward lay on his back, scowling harshly as his thoughts carried him away and kept him from sleep. Arms behind his head, body sprawled out over the bed, he was surprised Winry had any room at all to sleep; somehow, though, she had curled herself into a loose ball and had dropped off to sleep almost as soon as her head had hit the pillow. She was exhausted, Edward knew, from all the automail maintenance and repairs she'd been doing recently, in Resembool and in Rush Valley. Although she never told him outright how tired she actually was, he didn't miss the way her head would loll to the side when they sat together or how she was always either rubbing her burning eyes or, with a smile on her face, her stomach.

That was another thing: was she supposed to be working this hard when she was pregnant? Edward's scowl deepened. True, she was just in her second month and not far along enough to show, but Edward still secretly worried. Just today, he'd looked through her parents' old medical books until he had found one on pregnancy. Some things he had simply skimmed through, but others had caught his attention, like how so many things could go wrong during the pregnancy. Many problems could happen during birth, like the mother losing too much blood or amniotic fluid accidentally flowing straight into her heart, stopping it. He'd cringed at that one.

And then there was miscarriage. Triggered by stress or natural causes, a baby could sometimes be lost during the first twenty weeks of development. Ed noticed the way Winry almost constantly worked nowadays, and he'd also seen the results: the headaches, fatigue, the way she'd become even snappier than usual. The thought of Winry losing the fetus made him apprehensive.

Another thing to add to the list of how he annoyed Winry to no end: he refused to call the baby a baby, choosing to refer to it as a fetus. After all, that's what it was. "It's not old enough yet," he'd explained only a few weeks ago to her. She'd frowned at him, and he'd tried amending, "We don't even know if it's male or female."

"Or twins."

"Twins?" he'd asked, slightly panicked. He could barely comprehend the fact that she was having one child and that it was his, but _two_? That was ridiculous!

"I'm just saying…" Her hand had gone to her flat stomach then, and, for some reason, Ed had, for some reason, found it slightly cute. "Just call it a baby, Edward."

He snuck a glance over at his sleeping wife, taking in her long eyelashes, the way her breathing was soft and deep. He looked at her hand, loosely curled near his arm, the way she was uncovered except for her feet, and he smirked softly. His gaze traveled down to her small stomach, and he tried to figure out how it could ever possibly be big; in a few months, though, she would be large with pregnancy, and that was something he could not just yet imagine.

Winry had been scared when she'd told him; not of being pregnant, exactly, but of Edward's reaction. She'd watched him intently after telling him the news, waiting for any outburst of anger. But Edward had been in shock, too amazed to even say anything but, "A baby?"

"Yes, Ed," she'd replied quietly, fidgeting with her hands. "A baby."

Edward had looked from her face to her stomach, then back and forth for several moments.

"Would you say something already?" Winry had ended up hollering after a full minute of silence.

Taking a deep breath, he'd asked, "Are you happy?"

"What?" Edward had taken a few steps forward until he was right in front of her, carefully taking her hands in his as her eyes widened.

"Are you happy that you're having a baby?"

Something had changed in her eyes then, a look of hurt that had made him flinch slightly. She'd smiled, though, saying, "Yes. Yes, I'm happy." Lips pulled up gorgeously, her eyes filled with tears, she had stepped into Edward's arms.

His hand had gone to her cheek and then her hair, head resting on her shoulder. "Then so am I."

That had slightly been a lie. Yes, Edward was happy about the baby, but…a baby? They hadn't even been married that long. A kid meant hard work, long, sleepless nights, and hardly any private time. Edward told himself this was why he didn't really want a kid yet, but something had settled in the back of his mind, nagging at him since he'd finally come up with his reasoning.

He glared at Winry's stomach, suddenly annoyed with the fetus. Alphonse should be the one having a kid, not him. Al was patient, good with words, and he loved kids, something not shared with his older brother, and Edward grumbled under his breath. Although his logic seemed clear to him, he knew that wasn't what truly bothered him; he could deal with all those problems. Something, though, still troubled him horribly; maybe the little nagging feeling in the back of his head?

It finally struck Edward when an old memory resurfaced, one that would always make his chest ache and blood boil. He saw his father, Hohenheim, tall and frightening and silent, as he looked down on a young Edward and Alphonse. Edward, confused and sleepy as he was, had watched him expectantly; his dad was leaving, but why wasn't he saying goodbye? Hohenheim had said something to his mother, Trisha, then had simply walked out the door.

Not long after that was when their mother died, which resulted in Ed and Al performing Human Transmutation to try to bring her back to life. In the course of their actions, Edward had lost his left leg and Al his entire body, and to save his little brother, Edward had pulled his soul from The Portal of Truth, sacrificing his right arm to bring him back. After that, he'd been equipped with automail prosthetics by Pinako Rockbell and her young granddaughter, Edward's best friend after Al, Winry Rockbell. He'd become a State Alchemist after recovering, which began the brothers' long, exhausting search for the Philosopher's Stone, an object that might not even exist and simply be a myth.

But it wasn't. And in the end, the Stone wasn't even required to bring Al's body back from The Portal. Al had sacrificed himself so Edward could defeat Father, which, by doing so, restored Edward's missing arm. After Father was destroyed, all Edward had done was give up his own Portal of Truth in exchange for Alphonse, and he'd been reunited with Al, flesh and blood Al, a human body with a human soul.

Along the way, he'd met up with Hohenheim back in Resembool for the first time in ten years. He'd wanted to kill him, to make him pay for leaving them and making his mother die, but something had stopped him. Eventually, with Hohenheim present during the final battle against Father, Edward had even ended up forgiving the bastard, not completely, but enough to let most of his anger go.

Shocked at the swelling in his chest, Edward gasped. He placed his hand over his heart, surprised to find it was beating way too fast, but he wasn't in actual pain. It was more like the feeling you get while holding your breath; sure as hell not comfortable, put not painful either.

It hit him then, after he'd finally recalled those old, painful memories, why he didn't want a kid: he was scared. He would never admit it, not even to Winry, but he was terrified by the thought of raising a child, that he had helped make a new life, one that resided within his wife at the moment. It wasn't just that he didn't think he was ready to be a father, but he was afraid of what kind he would be. Would he be like his own, a man who'd left his family and didn't return for years? Would his child hate him? Biting his lip harshly, he tried to calm himself as sweat broke out on his forehead.

There was something he needed to do, but he wasn't exactly sure how it should be phrased. He had no clue what he would say, but he needed to say it, now. Inhaling sharply, Edward raised himself up until he was looking down at Winry's slumbering form, and, making sure she was sound asleep and not going to wake up anytime soon, he slid down the bed slightly until he was facing her stomach. Keeping a few inches away from her abdomen, his arm folded under his head like a pillow, he felt like a complete idiot.

But if this was the right thing to do, he'd at least attempt it.

"Hey, you," he began softly, voice rough. _What the hell am I doing?_ he asked silently, but somehow forced himself to continue. "I guess you don't really know me…you don't know anything…but I'm…Ed. I'm your…father. That sounds weird, doesn't it? Me, a dad." He laughed, somehow relaxing. "I don't talk to you like your mom. She thinks I don't see her, but she's dead wrong. I see her rubbing her stomach a lot…I guess that's you…and she always talks real sweetly to you. I'd never heard her sound like that until she found out about you." A gentle smile broke out across his face at the thought of her smiling as she touched her tummy, her voice gentle.

Realizing he was steadily avoiding the main part of the conversation, he sighed, trying to focus. "So…sorry, I guess…for always calling you 'the fetus'. I'm just not used to the word 'baby'. Hey, I still think alchemically." He propped himself up on his arm, his right arm, no longer cold automail but skin, blood, and bones, and pressed his forehead against her stomach. "I wonder if you'll want to learn alchemy. I won't force it on you, so don't think that. I don't think Winry will force automail on you either. Oh yeah, Winry's your mom. You know, you're lucky." For some reason now, this didn't seem quite as uncomfortable; it almost felt like he was actually having a conversation with the fetus—the baby, he corrected—and it felt…natural. As long as no one else could hear him, he was surprisingly okay with this.

"You're lucky, 'cause you're gonna have Winry as a mom. There _are_ a few things I should warn you about though: she likes throwing wrenches, namely at me, but you might not want to get on her bad side, just in case. She's got a bad temper and…well, I have a bad temper too…" he realized. "So that means you probably will. Also, she's nuts about automail. That's what she does, she's an automail mechanic. She made an arm and leg for me when I was a kid, so I could keep moving. I don't have the arm anymore, but the leg's still there, and she's always wanting to upgrade it. We know someone who has a carbine in her leg, and Winry's always wanting to put stupid stuff like that in mine. She even tried to put in a machine gun once! God, she's crazy.

"But she's also the kindest, most determined, stubborn, beautiful person I know. She's got long, pale blonde hair and the most amazing eyes I've ever seen. They're like the sea and sky mixed in, but with some other color that's completely her own. Maybe you'll look like her. She's strong for a girl, and she can take care of herself, but that doesn't mean I don't like taking care of her. She's got this amazing laugh, one that always makes you want to laugh too. And her smile," he stated, his hand moving slowly over her stomach, a peaceful smile on his face, "saves me every time. She adores you already, and you're gonna get so much love from her when you're born. I don't know how it will work with me though. I guess I'll…yeah, I'll…love you. But you'll probably get sick of me eventually; everyone does. Still…just know, I'll be there, if you need me. Because I'm…I'm your dad."

Pulling back slightly, feeling accomplished and calm and, for the first time in weeks, truly happy, Edward grinned. "I'm just gonna say this, though: you'd better be a boy."

If Edward had been paying attention to anything besides his conversation with the baby, he would have noticed the change in Winry's breathing, signifying she was no longer asleep. He would have noticed her face take on an dangerously annoyed expression as he spoke of all her faults, her smile when he called her beautiful. He would have noticed her eyes, bright blue and soft with emotion, watching him as he spoke to their unborn child. He didn't notice any of this, though, until he looked up and saw her watching him.

Immediately, he turned red all the way down to his neck, and a frown spread across his face as all expressions shut off. "What?" he asked bleakly. "Are you gonna make fun of me now?"

She placed her hand on his cheek, smiling softly. "You're going to be a great father."

The scowl left his face, and he simply watched her, a strange expression crossing his features, almost like nervousness; it reminded her of when he'd proposed to her last year. "Really?"

She slid her thumb over his cheek, then his lips. "Definitely."

Once he had lain back down, Winry crawled into his arms, resting her head on his wiry shoulder. He wrapped his arms loosely around her, one hand on her back, the other near her stomach, itching to touch it again. Rolling her eyes, she took his hand and placed it over her belly.

He sighed softly, oddly content.

Winry had thought he was asleep until he suddenly asked, "Are you scared?" He was looking at her, eyes soft, his hand brushing against her bare arm gently.

"Yes."

"You shouldn't be."

"Why?"

"Because," he stated, ruffling her hair, "you're gonna be a great mother."

Winry smiled and kissed his neck, and she heard him moan softly. Smile widening, she kissed his collarbone, his grip tightening into a possessive hold.

Bur then his teeth grazed her ear, and it was her turn to groan, and she felt Edward smirk as he pulled her on top of him.

"You're mine. You've always been mine," he said, grinning deviously at her once she was looking at him; his smirk grew wider when he saw the same expression reflected on her pretty face.

"Oh, really? I'd say it's the other way around. See, I've got _you_," she stated, her hand grasping. Suddenly, Edward growled her name softly, groaning, body rigid and hard, and she knew that she'd won the battle.

For now, at least.

"That was dirty," he whined, voice thick, as she rolled back onto her side, still in his arms.

"All's fare in love and war."

"But we aren't at war."

"We are most of the time." Edward laughed softly at the truth in her words, pulling her to him tightly. Her fingers caressed his bare chest, then moved over the tender scar tissue on his shoulder left by the automail, giving him chill bumps, and she leaned down and gently kissed the sensitive skin. A satisfied sigh escaped him.

They were quiet for several minutes, each listening to the other's breathing, Winry's fingers twined in Ed's long, golden hair and his wrapped in her light blonde. His other hand, still on her stomach, was held softly in hers.

"Ed?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled sleepily.

"You won't be mad if it's a girl, will you?"

Opening only one eye, he looked at her. "Nah. It really doesn't matter what sex it is, right? Just needs to be healthy and all."

"You just really want a little boy."

Edward smiled fondly. "Sorta."

"Good, 'cause so do I."

"You're lying," he argued, smiling slightly.

"No, I'm not. See, I want a little boy who's as beautiful as his daddy."

Edward, eyes widening, blushed, still not used to Winry saying things like that; she knew he wasn't good with words. Somehow, though, he managed to get out, "Well, I want a kid who's got your eyes."

Winry smiled brightly, and Edward knew he'd said the right thing.

"Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"Are _you _scared?"

Smiling softly, he kissed her forehead. "Not really. Not anymore."

Winry sighed, smiling sleepily up at her husband. "We're actually having a baby."

Edward, who would have earlier brushed her words off, now felt a foreign pride swell up in his chest. "Yeah. We are."


	2. Four Months Later

**Disclaimer: I don't own the world of FullMetal Alchemist: Hiromu Arakawa is the creator.**

**A/N: I just HAD to do this...it wasn't planned at all though, and the idea for this just came to me on the night of June 3, 2011 while I was writing a scene that will appear in one of my upcoming stories. As I wrote it, a thought just kinda hit me out of the blue: "Hey, how would Edward react to feeling his baby move?" And so, this is the result of that tiny idea. By the way, Chezlo Novak is just someone I made up, but isn't his name awesome? I had a lot of fun on this little extra scene and I hope you all enjoy it!**

**StarKatt427**

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Winry had just begun to wash the dishes, her hair wound up in a bun to keep it out of her face, when Edward came back into the house, slamming the door behind him as he did. That damn Chezlo Novak had come for the third time that month, asking Ed once again to reconsider the idea of selling the land where his home had once been before he'd burned it to the ground. And, just as he had the last two times, Edward had told him no, that he wasn't going to sell it and to get off his back. This time, his temper had finally gotten out of hand and he'd ended up releasing several curse words, all directed to the agent and his superiors, but at least he would get the message and just leave him alone.

He walked into the house, straight to the kitchen and toward Winry, sighing tiredly. When he reached her, he dropped his head onto her shoulder dramatically, and she laughed.

"Big meeting, huh?" she asked.

"I wish he'd just leave me alone," he complained, slumping away from her and to the cabinet to grab a glass. Once he had it, he popped a few ice cubes in, then filled it up with sweet tea and took a long swallow. "I already told him we weren't going to sell in, but did he listen? No. He went to Al before he came here."

"Really? Well, at least he knows what he wants," Winry commented.

"He's a greedy, beady eyed little man who wants me to smash his face in, that's what he wants," Ed growled after taking another gulp of drink.

Winry's hands froze, and she looked away from her dishes and up to her husband. "You…you didn't hit him, did you?" she inquired anxiously.

Edward gave her a slightly annoyed look, then rolled his eyes good naturedly. "No, I didn't," he said, placing the glass down next to the sink. "There. You can wash that one too."

"Or you could wash dishes and I could relax," she countered.

"Yeah, but where's the fun it that?"

"Well, I'd personally love to see you in an apron."

Ed blushed lightly, then smirked down at his wife, eyeing the light pink item that covered her clothes. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

"I have ways, Edward Elric," she replied mysteriously, drying her hands off on a towel.

"Such as?"

She stood in front of him and reached her arms up behind his neck, twirling his ponytail before she pulled it softly. "We could start by cutting this off. You know, make you look like a real man," she said jokingly.

Edward glared at her in mock anger, hands skimming over her pregnant belly before traveling to her hips. "I'm plenty man. I think Junior there's proof enough."

"Edward!"

Ed barked out a laugh, grinning at Winry as she pulled back from him, her cheeks pink at his implication. While Winry was more comfortable with the soft words spoken late at night and the feel of being in his arms, Edward had quickly adapted to finding more pleasure when it came to sex and making obvious references to their love life because he simply enjoyed it so much; plus, it always made Winry slightly nervous, even after being married for almost a year and having a baby due in twelve weeks.

"Ed, that's not funny," she replied, cheeks still lightly stained.

He simply laughed again, loving every minute of this.

A strangled breath suddenly broke from Winry's mouth, and her eyes went wide, causing him to freeze. He watched her carefully, trying to keep himself calm. "Winry? What's wrong?"

She didn't say anything; her lips were parted in a small circle, blue eyes wide, and Ed watched as he hands suddenly came up to rest on her stomach. He looked at her, confused and still nervous, as she took in a small breath, then released it, eyes rounding even further. Her lips twitched upward slightly.

Ed was on the verge of trembling, he was so worried. "Winry, what's wrong?" he asked once again, voice high and filled with the same fear he'd felt seeing his unconscious mother on the floor all those years ago, the same fear he'd experienced when he'd found out Alphonse's soul could be rejected by the armor at any moment. What if she was hurt, or if something was wrong with the baby? Was that why she was holding her stomach? "Hey! Winry, what ha—"

"He…he _moved_," Winry said, voice filled with wonder and amazement.

Edward, not yet understanding what she was talking about, simply stared at her. "What?"

"Ed, the baby just moved." She looked at Edward, eyes shining with joy, the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her face; it was filled with so much adoration and delight. "Right then. Right when you laughed."

"It…it moved? Really?" he asked, voice squeaking slightly as he looked down at her belly; even though she had been pregnant for six months, Winry was still tiny, the little ball of her stomach small and round. A smile was beginning to spread out across his own face, and he looked back at her, grinning. She laughed softly, hands still on her stomach, and Edward realized her eyes were beginning to shine with something besides delight. "Winry, c'mon, don't cry."

"But I'm happy," she said, sniffling, trying not to cry.

Edward laughed, deep in his chest, and placed a hand on her head momentarily, his mind at ease once again now that he knew she and the baby were alright.

Winry took a sudden shallow intake of breath, and her smile grew wider, more enthusiastic. "He moved again! Ed, he's moving!"

Edward was at a loss for words; he wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that. He felt strange, a warm, fuzzy feeling spreading over him he hadn't actually experienced since the night he'd finally accepted they were having a baby, but it was a little more pronounced now. His child was…moving, inside Winry. He was speechless.

Winry seemed to realize this; she rolled her eyes affectionately, then reached out and took hold of his hand. "Here, you feel too," she said, pushing her apron aside and shoving his hand up under her light blue shirt, placing it on the bare skin of her stomach.

"W-winry, wait a second," Ed stuttered, blushing at the contact. Touching Winry's stomach and, in a sense, touching their unborn child, was something he didn't do very often, and especially not when it was skin-on-skin, his hand on her bare belly.

"Just wait," she said softly, excited, her hand still over his.

They stood there for about a minute waiting, both silent, Winry expecting and Ed slightly unsure.

"Come on, baby," Winry whispered softly, squeezing Ed's hand a little more tightly.

Edward gave a nervous little chuckle, glancing anywhere but at his wife or where their hands were hidden beneath her shirt.

And as he laughed, he felt a soft little _thump _against the palm of his hand.

It was the tiniest of movements, a small pressure against her stomach, and then it was gone. Still, Edward had felt it.

And he was amazed. His baby had just moved, and he'd felt it. It was an unfamiliar yet strangely natural feeling, a mixture between amazement and bliss and timidity as he left his hand on her soft stomach, slightly in shock, even as a wondering smile spread over his face.

Winry watched him the entire time, seeing a variety of emotions travel across his face, then finally settling on excitement. She smiled gently, her other hand moving over her shirt to rest on their entwined hands. "Well?"

Edward smiled brightly up at her, golden eyes childishly wide and innocent. "It moved! Our…our baby actually moved!"

"Yes, he did."

Ed shoved his other hand up under her shirt, placing it on her tummy. "I know I said it had better be a boy," he began quietly, "but what makes you so sure it's a 'he'?"

Winry smiled, then slid her other hand beneath her shirt as well, resting it over Edward's. "Because that's what you said it would be, and that's what it's going to be. We're going to have a little boy."

"Yeah?" he asked softly, gazing down in wonder at her stomach, trying to imagine the tiny baby inside. He cocked his head to the side, smiling gently. "I like the idea of that."

She gazed down at her stomach thoughtfully, then looked back at her husband, an idea evident in her eyes. "Can we name him Joshua?" she asked.

"Joshua, huh?" Edward pretended to contemplate this for a moment, even though he already knew what his answer would be. The name sounded strong to him, a name fit for an Elric. Joshua Elric; he liked that. Besides, there was no way he was going to tell her no and take that light he loved so much out of her eyes. He grinned. "Yeah. Sounds good."

Winry nodded contently, smiling.

They were quiet for a moment, both looking down at her stomach, until Winry finally said, "You know something?"

"Hmm?"

"He only moved when you laughed."

Edward's gaze moved up to her, catching her blue eyes as they seemed to look into his very soul. She smiled his favorite smile and said, voice thick with emotion, "He already knows his daddy's voice."

Ed drew his hands away from her stomach, only to pull her forward into him and wrap his arms around her, holding her tightly. He rested his head on hers, a thrilled little grin on his face as his hand stroked through her hair. "You think so?"

"Of course," she said into his shirt, arms winding around his waist.

Ed sighed softly, burying his face in her hair. "He knows you too, you know. You talk to him all the time, and he loves you more than anyone."

"Really?" she asked, and he grinned, trying to keep himself from laughing at her uncertainty.

"Duh. You're his mom. Besides," he said, trying not to blush, "he's like me in that way."

Winry looked up at him, her smile loving and beautiful and so Winry that it made his heart swell up in his chest, and she finally let a few tears of joy fall from her eyes.

Ed sighed softly, wiping at her eyes, then plating a kiss on the top of her head before pulling her back into him, one hand in her hair, the other traveling down until it reached the hem of her shirt; he shoved his hand up underneath it, resting his palm against her tight tummy, a peaceful smile on his face as he wondered just how much better this was going to be when the baby was born.


End file.
